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Friday, April 25, 2014

If you can't Lick 'em...

From the Daily Bruin:

Thirty-five members of Congress from California have signed a letter
released to the public on Wednesday, urging the University of California
to keep funding the Lick Observatory. The Lick Observatory, located on Mt. Hamilton near San Jose, is a
UC-owned and operated facility that houses nine telescopes, five of
which are currently used for research purposes.Despite protests from University researchers and astronomers, the facility is set to stop receiving UC funds after 2018. The letter, addressed to UC President Janet Napolitano, responds to
an earlier one Napolitano sent in March explaining the reasons behind
defunding the facility – namely, that astronomers are using the
observatory less.

The UC Observatories Board, an umbrella body that manages systemwide
research and funds for astronomy, recommended that the UC Office of the
President use its funding for Lick to funnel resources into newer
facilities. The University is financially invested in the W. M. Keck
Observatory in Hawaii, as well as a new $1.2 billion planned
Thirty-Meter Telescope. As a rebuttal to the UC’s claims, the letter cited current research
opportunities at the observatory to justify why it should continue to
receive UC funding...